Trump Unveils 'Most Prestigious' Gaza Peace Board, Takes Swipe at UN

Addressing reporters here, Trump called it the most prestigious board to be ever assembled, and took a dig at the United Nations saying that the peace board would get more work done than the UN. He further noted that peace in the Middle East was attained through "taking out" the Iranian nuclear threat.

When posed with the dichotomy of Trump inviting Russian President Putin to the Board of Peace, while at the same time noting that Greenland sees a threat from Russia, Trump said that the peace board assembles people who "get the job done".

He said, "We want everybody. We want all nations. We want all nations where people have control, people have power, that we're never going to have a problem. This is the greatest board ever assembled. And everybody wants to be on it. But yeah, I have some controversial people on it, but these are people that get the job done. These are people that have tremendous influence. All babies on the board. So he (Putin) was invited. He's accepted. Many people have accepted. think, I don't know of anybody that hasn't accepted. But it's going to be great."

On the Board of Peace he further said, "I think the Board of Peace will be the most prestigious board ever. And it's going to get a lot of work done that the United Nations should have done. And we'll work with the United Nations. But the Board of Peace is going to be special. We're going to have peace. It started off with Gaza, the Middle East. We've got peace in the Middle East. Tremendous peace in the Middle East. Nobody thought that was possible. And that happened by taking out the Iran nuclear threat. Without that, it could have never happened. But the board is going to be, I think, really fantastic. And I think it will be the most prestigious board of any board ever."

The formation of the Gaza Board of Peace, as part of Phase 2 of the 20-Point Peace Plan to end the conflict in West Asia, aims to promote stability and oversee post-conflict reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.

The Board of Peace was proposed by Trump last September as part of his plan to end the war in Gaza, although the initiative now seems to be aimed at mediating global conflict more broadly.

According to a White House statement, the proposed Executive Board members will oversee portfolios critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success. These include governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation.

However, countries that commit USD 1 billion would secure permanent seats on the board, while those that do not pay could still join for a three-year term.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said ina interview to CNBC on Wednesday (local time) that up to 25 countries had accepted the invitation to join the board.

Among the countries that have accepted Trump's invitation are Israel, Kosovo, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Jordan.

Meanwhile, responding to another media query on whether the United States would have the ownership of Greenland and the deal in this regard, Trump told reporters in Davos, "It's a long-term deal. It's the ultimate long-term deal. I think it puts everybody in really good position, especially as it pertains to security and minerals..."

When asked how long the deal would be, he said, "Infinite. People are out there and they're working on the details of the deal. But it's what's called an infinite deal that's forever."

After weeks of strong-arm tactics and rhetoric on the issue of getting control of Greenland, US President Trump appears to have settled down. On Wednesday night, the US President met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and spoke of why the US wants to have a presence in the Arctic Island.

"Price of safety for national and international security; it is better that we have Greenland than it is without, it's going to be better for Europe and us," Trump said when asked if he sees a price for Greenland.

"We want Greenland only for security, not for anything else; even Mark wants security for NATO and beyond," he added.

Trump also heaped praise on Rutte's work, and later in his post on Truth Social said the framework for a future deal on Greenland was done.

- ANI